𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐋𝐄 ♕ 𝐉𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐎𝐎𝐊

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

"Oi! What the hell are you doing?"

The dagger, positioned over her wrist, slipped out of Min Gaeun's hand. It hurtled towards the wooden floor, clattering by her bare feet, and made her stumble in surprise. Jang Wook, the owner of the startled voice and drenched to the bone because of the rain, climbed over the balcony railing.

"What the hell were you doing?" He pointed at the woman and demanded, glaring at her through the wet hair plastered over his forehead.

Gaeun gaped at him, taken aback by his sudden, unexpected appearance in her mother's house. Then, she jerked towards the door of her room and slid it shut, locking it. If her father or her brothers saw Wook in her room after what was being said about him, they'd most probably kill him. "What are you doing here?" She said in a hurried whisper as she began to draw the curtains over her windows, "Did you get kicked out again? What is this, the tenth time?"

"Eleventh," he corrected her before bending to pick up the plain looking blade she had discarded, "What was this about?"

Snatching it back from him, Gaeun tucked it into the sheath hanging on her waistband. "Nothing," she told him as she carefully peered over the balcony, "Did someone see you come in?"

Wook toured the room, ignoring how Gaeun wrinkled her nose at him for leaving muddy footprints on her flooring. "Everybody's in the dining hall for the evening," he said, hands behind his back as he closely examined the binded books lined in the shelves, "I walked in through the main gate with the guests and nobody stopped me so I don't think it's much of a problem that I'm here."

"You don't know that," Gaeun grumbled.

He eyed her with something akin to sympathy before saying, "I'm sorry about your mother."

"It's been over a week since her death."

"I only just heard a few hours ago. Although," he pointed over his shoulder, "I really hope the grand party isn't in her memory. It'd be horrible of your grandparents to pull something like this."

Gaeun's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Despite her affections for him, Wook had started to get onto her nerves ever since he had turned fifteen four years ago. You'd think the first thing he'd notice would be her red ceremonial robes and the abundance of hairpins on her auburn head but no. "It's not," she said through gritted teeth, "It's my engagement dinner."

The corners of his mouth turned downwards as he nodded, "Is that so? Huh. Congratu—wait, engagement?"

"Yes."

Wook grabbed her face in both his hands and turned her head left to right to examine her. "I was wondering why you looked as if you put in effort into your appearance," he mumbled, "You can look pretty if you want—"

Gaeun's fist shot out, catching Wook in the ribs. The force of the punch, coinciding with the thunder outside, flung him across the room. He left a wet streak of rainwater on the floor as he skidded to a halt. His back hit the frame of her bed and he winced as he propped himself against one of its legs. "You and your gorilla strength," he groaned, clutching his chest, "You could've killed me."

"What did I tell you about backhanded compliments?"

He caught his breath and leaned his head back. "To keep them to myself," he wheezed and coughed, "Who are you marrying again?"

"Min Dohyun."

Wook blanched, forgetting all about the bruise forming on his chest, "That buck-toothed cousin of yours? That's disgusting! You can't marry a family member, Gaeun!"